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Hero Points and Stunting in Legend


p_clapham

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This was in another thread, but I feel it needs it's own thread.

 

In very pulpy games I want to try to make Hero Points more available to the players.  This can be done in a couple of ways.  I can increase the amount given at character creation, Runequest 6 gives you "Luck Points" equal to your POW.  I could also increase the rate at which Hero Points are refreshed.  Or I could do both.  This is what I'm thinking of doing for my Pulp Legend Rules.

 

Starting Hero Points

Characters in a low pulp setting receive Hero Points equal to their POW+CHA divided by 4.

Characters is a high pulp setting recieve Hero Points equal to their POW+CHA divided by 2. 

 

With this system a low pulp character with average scores in both POW and CHA starts off with more Hero Points than a starting Legend character.  I feel having it based on both POW and CHA prevents POW from getting out of hand, particularly when you add Psychic Powers and Sorcery into the mix.  Low pulp and High pulp are two things I'm working on, two different styles of play really.  Low pulp is meant to be gritter, more suited for horror.  High pulp would be perfect for masked avengers, and globetrotting adventurers.

 

Stunting

This is a rule inspired from the old Adventure! rpg, that eventually made its way into the Exallted rpg.  Stunting in a nutshell is where you describe your character's action in a cool and unique way.  If the gamemaster thinks it is good enough you get a bonus for that roll.  This is how I'd have it work for the Legend rules.

 

Prior to the dice roll the player describes how he is going about his action/ how his action is going to resolve (if successful).  If this is described in a sufficiently cool and unique way the GM can allow the stunt to proceed.  The character makes his skill roll but instead of rolling two dice he rolls one additional tens dice and takes the better of the two dice.  If the skill roll is successful the character also gains a Hero Point.

 

Stunting is not only a way of increasing the refresh rate of Hero Points, but it leads to some very entertaining roleplaying sessions as well.

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Pirates of Legend gives an alternate way to build hero points with vices, where if you indulge in a vice you get hero points based on how strong that vice is.

 

My game Magic & Flintlock uses this idea but expands it into Virtues and Vices. Role play out a Virtue and you get a Hero Point, suppress a Vice and you get a hero point. You can try to not do a Virtue, but you don't get hero points if you do and if you give into your vice, again no hero points. It's a strong role play element and helps to generate valuable hero points.

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Pirates of Legend gives an alternate way to build hero points with vices, where if you indulge in a vice you get hero points based on how strong that vice is.

 

My game Magic & Flintlock uses this idea but expands it into Virtues and Vices. Role play out a Virtue and you get a Hero Point, suppress a Vice and you get a hero point. You can try to not do a Virtue, but you don't get hero points if you do and if you give into your vice, again no hero points. It's a strong role play element and helps to generate valuable hero points.

Hmm... I think I'd rather have characters gain hero points when they act in accordance to their virtue or vice.  The vice is there to be a downside to the character that gets them in trouble from time to time, at least that's my perspective on it.

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For my Pulp Setting I just use Power Points, so it saved me creating another set of Points on the sheet. I renamed them 'Pulp Points' for flavour, and calculated them by (POW+CHA)/2. They cover pretty much what Hero Points do, and I also use them to power Stunts (which I am using from the Blood Tide rules).

 

The main thing is that due to the large number of points available then I have a weekly recovery rate on Pulp Points, it works like natural healing with a 1d3 recovery every week. I like to run a low-pulp setting with cinematic moments as pivotal scenes rather than every time something dramatic happens, so its more akin to Raiders Of The Lost Ark or even Magnum PI rather than Doc Savage or Sky Captain.

 

I also use Features (previously called Personality Traits) to provide in-game recovery rewards, although you could do this simply by rewarding good roleplaying in game, Sounds along the lines of Magic & Flintlock actually, so I might check those rules out. Although I do already use the Flaws system from Blood Tide (although I expand it to encompass any flaw you can think of), and I don't grant any Pulp Point recovery when a Flaw is resisted, or if a character fails the Flaw roll. 

 

My only issue is that I don't want the characters to hold back on Pulp Points, as the setting is more fun when they are being used. I was thinking of some kind of roll to see if they gain an 'in-game' refresh according to the outcome of the Stunts they are using their Pulp Points on, which is kind of moving in the same territory as the Stunting Rules you are describing in the original post. 

 

I'm still unsure how I will incorporate it with my pre-existing rules, although seeing the concept outlined above definitely reinforces that this kind of rule needs to exist in order to stop 'point-hoarding' and keep the flavour of the setting.

" Sure it's fun, but it is also well known that a D20 roll and an AC is no match against a hefty swing of a D100% and a D20 Hit Location Table!"

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Possibly during winter break, but more likely next summer I am going to combine all of my pulp alternate rules into one file/ supplement. I think I will include power points as a alternate to hero points as a optional rule. Given that most characters are going to be running around with just edges that makes power points a underused resource.

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Yes, the idea really isn't mine; it comes from the Fate Rules option in the BGB, where it describes using PP to work as Fate Points. Although the PP costings are very vague there, and LEGEND's Hero Points (or RQ6's Luck Points) have a much clearer mechanic.

 

I sort of combined the both rules, and also created Pulp Edges/Feats which are so similar to the rules for Stunts from Blood Tide that I simply converted to those rules for the sake of clarity - its quite easy to create new Stunts using the pre-existing ones either as a guide or just changing the trappings. 

 

If characters use magic then the Power Points represent some form of magical essence, whereas if they are using Stunts it represents sheer swagger. It does not matter if they are the same pool of points really, as it all plays out the same during a session. It is great for non-magical characters to actually have a chance to use those Power Points.

 

I won't go into it all at length here, as I have rattled on about it under other threads recently, and I don't want to bore the many gamers who are not after a cinematic touch to BRP.

 

I'm using BRP as the basis for my Pulp game however, whereas I now see you are using LEGEND.

I should of read that more clearly.

In BRP it does not make sense to have a new set of Points on the sheet, but LEGEND already has Hero Points worked into the system so it's probably best to stick with that as written actually.

 

Your additions of Pulp Abilities can easily slot in there quite well under the rules for Heroic/Legendary Abilities, although in a Pulp genre I would not worry about any skill requirements, as they are not such much about technical mastery as they are about sheer moxie and pulpiness. For a fantasy genre you will probably still need skill requirements however.

 

Your rules for Stunting is a nice addition though, I think that is necessary to keep encouraging players to using Hero Points and pulling off cool stunts. Definitely keep that, or some version of that concept in any case. 

 

Sounds like you really dig the Pulp settings :-)

" Sure it's fun, but it is also well known that a D20 roll and an AC is no match against a hefty swing of a D100% and a D20 Hit Location Table!"

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